Being in the business of removing tree stumps in Melbourne, we come across all different kinds of reasons to remove stumps. We have compiled a list of our top 5 most common reasons that home or business owners choose to have stumps removed on their property. If you are looking for a stump removal expert to remove a stump in your garden please get in touch on our contact us page.
Tree stumps are hazards you might ask? It is very common to remove stumps to prevent any accidents occurring. When trees are removed down to ground level, they are usually left slightly above the surface or higher. The reason for this is that chainsaws simply cannot cut below ground, they go blunt very easily if they hit rocks or soil. This then leaves a raised stump in a garden bed, lawn or elsewhere for someone to trip over.
Local councils are very strict about the way tree stumps are left in the street or in parks. They are either removed as soon as possible or marked in some way. A common way of marking them is to paint them bright colours (see below) to make the hazard more obvious to the human eye. Another way is to screw a traffic cone or witches hat to the stump until the day of removal. Some councils choose to leave their stumps over 1 metre high until they can be removed. If you have young children playing in the garden, stumps can have sharp edges that are dangerous to play around.
Tree stumps can not only pose a threat to pedestrians. They can wreak havoc with garden machinery such as lawnmowers. If an operator doesn’t notice a tree stump lurking in the grass, it can have detrimental effects on the machine or the user.
Construction in Melbourne is at an all-time high. Quite often trees are removed when new buildings, driveways or houses are built. When trees are removed that means there are stumps that need to be removed too. A tree’s stump is its main contact point with the ground and it has to be strong! This makes for hard work when stump removal is required.
Although most construction companies try to avoid removing trees, there are some cases where it is inevitable. For instance, when utility companies decide to move their assets underground, it is common for trees and stumps to be removed. This is to ensure the utilities can be placed at the right depth and correctly spaced apart.
Another common instance of stump removal on construction projects is when fences need to be erected. Lots of the time instead of having a boundary fence, there could be a boundary hedge.
When a boundary hedge is removed to make way for a fence, the stumps have to be removed to ensure fence post holes can be dug correctly.
Any wood in any situation is always at risk of termite infestation, especially in Melbourne, Australia. Leaving old timber in the garden, close to the house, can be asking for trouble as far as termites are concerned. If termites are eating wood in your garden, they could potentially move into your home. This could get very expensive, very quickly. Termites love to make old tree stumps their home.
Of course, if you live in a rural setting, there will be plenty of trees and wood around for them to set up camp in and this may not apply. However, it is definitely a concern if you live in an inner suburb and garden space is limited.
It’s not just termites that can be a worry. Decaying tree stumps can be a breeding ground for pests and disease in the garden. It can be quite common for Ganoderma brackets to grow on old stumps or logs and this could be at the detriment to your garden. Having fungi in the garden can sometimes be unavoidable so having a breeding ground for it is not ideal.
If a tree stump has hollows or holes in it, this can also make a perfect home for rodents or other unwanted animals.
Property prices in Melbourne aren’t cheap. Based on a square metre figure, ugly tree stumps could take up some potentially valuable space on a property. If you are thinking of selling your house or tidying up your garden, removing old tree stumps is quite a common task. Previous owners may have removed a tree and never bothered removing the stump. Probably because it was an oversight or too much like hard work.
Sometimes stumps are left with the vision of creating a seat or a table. This is fine to start with but as time moves on, they start to decay and attract bugs, as mentioned above. Usually, trees are planted in flower beds or in the middle of lawns. Removing unwanted stumps from these areas can really make a difference to the look and feel of the property.
Old tree roots in lawns can be problematic too, similar to stumps. They can ruin the look of well-maintained grass as well as being a pain to work around.
Coming back to council trees, councils only have so much space available to hit their quotas for tree planting. In the street environment, trees are usually planted in tree pits or grass berms. When a tree is cut down, it is essential that the stump is removed to make way for a replacement tree. Although the perception of tree removal is bad, it is actually good tree management to remove trees at the end of their useful life. This makes way for the new trees to be enjoyed in years to come.
In a residential garden or a commercial property, there may only be certain places trees can be planted. This is where stump removal will be necessary to enable the correct sized hole for the new tree to be planted. Stump removal will also stop the old stumps regrowing and taking much-needed nutrients from the soil. It may be stating the obvious but this is the most common reason we remove stumps in the Melbourne area, to plant new trees.
